Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Kelly Tilghman made a mistake.But that’s all it was - a mistake.Tilghman said something she shouldn’t have during a Golf Channel broadcast last week and she has apologized for it.

That should be the end of it.Tilghman has apologized directly to Tiger Woods for saying young players should "lynch him in a back alley" after broadcast partner Nick Faldo suggested young players may need to gang up on Woods to challenge his dominance of the PGA Tour.

It was an unfortunate comment, certainly. But Tilghman, who has done a commendable job as the anchor of The Golf Channel’s tour telecast, doesn’t deserve to be hammered for her mistake. That won’t stop some people from pouncing anyway.

I don’t know Tilghman well - I’ve interviewed her and chit-chatted with her through the years - but I’m convinced there was no malice intended. She is a nice person who has worked extremely hard to do a good job and she has succeeded on merit.

She and Tiger are friends and he immediately accepted her apology, having had his own issue a few years back when he used the word "spaz" in describing himself.

Tilghman is liked and respected by the people who know her. She should be.

She said something she wishes she hadn’t and she apologized. In doing so, she said just the right thing. Let’s move on.

7
comments:

Anonymous
said...

Thankfully, that's NOT it:

http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1701417,00.html

It's nice that you want to defend her and that she's buddy-buddy with Tiger, but fortunately, there are people out there (beyond Charlotte and other Southern-state media mentalities) who understand that the overall effect of just "letting it go" wouldn't suffice. Just because you're ignorant -- and even TIGER and his agent are just as ignorant -- about just how improper it was to say that doesn't mean some type of action shouldn't have been taken and suspension is about right (not a firing.) Again: her saying "lynch him in a back alley" is the same thing as a male sportscaster (who may or may not be her friend) saying young male golf sportscasters should "r-pe her in a back alley." Inappropriate. Same suspension should happen in that case. It's a lesson learned for us ALL when someone has to take a minor fall for saying something COMPLETELY inappropriate. I will certainly push for the same thing to happen to you should one of your columns be just as offensive.

Yes Tiger has forgiven her, but Tiger doesn't consider himself to be a black man (like Hines Ward)or lead the average life of one so of course he wouldn't find the remark offensive. Even if he did find it offensive it's doubtful he would make it known publicly for any number of reasons. Tiger's public image is apolitical judging by his words.Do we as a society need to condemn a white woman for having an distastful thought that becomes a remark in public?Only if she is a recognized media perfessional who is paid to do the job.

Don't you just love living in the United States of the Offended? If lynching is so derogatory, why did I hear all about it in those old westerns I used to watch as a kid? And when did it become a racial term? I'm sorry but if you're that thin skinned PUT A HELMET ON!!

The problem is that unless you are black, you will never, ever, ever understand how deeply painful the word "lynch" is. Okay, she apologized. And okay, she should be forgiven. But forgiving and not saying something in response in an attempt to educated broadcasters on what is offensive are two different things. Mr. Green, you are a Southern white man. You will never appreciate how we feel. That's not your fault. But you should investigate before you make these declarations.

Someone said, "The problem is that unless you are black, you will never, ever, ever understand how deeply painful the word "lynch" is...You will never appreciate how we feel.

Well, hold on a second. I think any educated person...black or white, male or female, Southern or not, can understand and relate to illegal hangings, regardless of the race of the person who's killed.

And don't forget folks, lynching has been around since the Middle Ages (and probably before) and the majority of victims weren't black. And there were a whole lot of white people lynched in this country in the 1700s and 1800s as well. I don't think the hangman's noose is the symbol of racial hatred that a lot of people think it is, or want it to be.

The Golf Week cover was definitely a really stupid idea, and the accountable person has lost his job because of it. Let that be the end of it.